Brad Stevens: President of Basketball Ops

radsoxfan

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Yeah that's huge.

I think that it's fair to have some reservations about Brad's ability to handle negotiations with other GMs, agents, and professional players. He lacks first hand experience being responsible for those engagements.

However, this isn't something that just materialized out of thin air. They have plans on top of plans, with contingency plans on top of them. Brad has been in those conversations with Danny, Zarren, and ownership. Danny didn't give two weeks notice and hand the keys to Brad. Brad will be navigating through plans that were socialized up and down the ladder already.
I agree.... Brad has shadowed and learned a lot I'm sure, like we do in medical school. He is very knowledgable in this space, but being the "doctor" in charge is a whole new ball game.

And agree about Zarren (and others?) being critical here, at least in this first offseason.

You never want to get sick in July with the new batch of interns roaming the floors, and for good reason. Let's hope Brad doesn't kill any patients early on before he gets his feet wet.
 

Jimbodandy

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I agree.... Brad has shadowed and learned a lot I'm sure, like we do in medical school. He is very knowledgable in this space, but being the "doctor" in charge is a whole new ball game.

And agree about Zarren (and others?) being critical here, at least in this first offseason.

You never want to get sick in July with the new batch of interns roaming the floors, and for good reason. Let's hope Brad doesn't kill any patients early on before he gets his feet wet.
Fwiw, I don't think that the analogy is precise enough. The crossover between what Brad and Danny know is much greater than your med student and 20year pro. Most of team building is about organization, philosophy, ownership backing (financial and otherwise). Brad has likely had as much input into philosophy and organization as Danny over the last few years or close to it. Yeah, at the end of the day, the ability to stare down an opposing personnel guy or agent and get what we want is an acquired skill that Brad needs to learn. But the biggest parts of the job have already been learned.
 

radsoxfan

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Fwiw, I don't think that the analogy is precise enough. The crossover between what Brad and Danny know is much greater than your med student and 20year pro. Most of team building is about organization, philosophy, ownership backing (financial and otherwise). Brad has likely had as much input into philosophy and organization as Danny over the last few years or close to it. Yeah, at the end of the day, the ability to stare down an opposing personnel guy or agent and get what we want is an acquired skill that Brad needs to learn. But the biggest parts of the job have already been learned.
Perhaps it's not exact, but a med student has been studying medicine for 4 years and doing the job with close supervision for 2 (years 3 and 4 of medical school are mostly on the wards).

You can know a lot, but there is still a big difference being the decision maker in the room. I don't doubt Brad is extremely knowledgable, has been groomed to some degree, and is capable of being good at this. But the fact is that he has never worked in the FO in any official capacity, and has never been the ultimate decision maker responsible.

Even a capable assistant like Zarren would likely have a learning curve being the top guy. For someone like Brad, I expect the learning curve to be even steeper. I'm not saying making Brad President was wrong, but it did surprise me moderately they didn't want to go after an experienced GM.

Obviously ownership has way more information than I do, and they have seen Brad's management chops in action to some degree. Let's just hope they are right and he doesn't make any missteps before he gets his bearings.
 
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wade boggs chicken dinner

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Perhaps it's not exact, but a med student has been studying medicine for 4 years and doing the job with close supervision for 2 (years 3 and 4 of medical school are mostly on the wards).

You can know a lot, but there is still a big difference being the decision maker in the room. I don't doubt Brad is extremely knowledgable, has been groomed to some degree, and is capable of being good at this. But the fact is that he has never worked in the FO in any official capacity, and has never been the ultimate decision maker responsible.

Even a capable assistant like Zarren would likely have a learning curve being the top guy. For someone like Brad, I expect the learning curve to be even steeper. I'm not saying making Brad President was wrong, but it did surprise me moderately they didn't want to go after an experienced GM.

Obviously ownership has way more information than I do, and they have seen Brad's management chops in action to some degree. Let's just hope they are right and he doesn't make any missteps before he gets his bearings.
People might want to listen to the two CelticsTalk podcasts (Forsberg's) that landed immediately after the announcement. The first one had interviews with DA and Brad; the second one was with Wyc.

From what I got from the interview with Wyc is that they don't really see this as a gargantuan job promotion for Brad. He's basically been in every meeting and has been involved in or knows about every discussion that a GM does for the past several years and this move was basically a no-brainer. In addition, Brad's offered his own conclusions, which at times conflicted with DA's. I know there's always going to be a difference between being - in lawyer's parlance - a second or third chair versus the lead litigation, but I think it was Brad who said, while this is a new challenge, he thinks it's an extension of what he has been doing and he's excited but ready to take it on.

Also, in Brad's interview, he states that he's known about this for some time. In fact, he mentioned that as G5 ended and he knew that his coaching career was ending, he wished he could have talked about it more with other people but he couldn't, for obvious reasons.

Finally, from DA's interview, I think it's clear this was totally his decision. He is still very invested in the Cs - at one point calling them "My Celtics" and mentioning that he's completely invested in the success of the franchise.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Fwiw, I don't think that the analogy is precise enough. The crossover between what Brad and Danny know is much greater than your med student and 20year pro. Most of team building is about organization, philosophy, ownership backing (financial and otherwise). Brad has likely had as much input into philosophy and organization as Danny over the last few years or close to it. Yeah, at the end of the day, the ability to stare down an opposing personnel guy or agent and get what we want is an acquired skill that Brad needs to learn. But the biggest parts of the job have already been learned.
This is where I’m at. This isn’t the Mayor of Duxbury taking over as President of the United States. If there was any reason to believe that Brad couldn’t successfully slide over into the next seat, Wyc & Co. would be the first to know and he wouldn’t have been promoted into this role.
 

128

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People might want to listen to the two CelticsTalk podcasts (Forsberg's) that landed immediately after the announcement. The first one had interviews with DA and Brad; the second one was with Wyc.

From what I got from the interview with Wyc is that they don't really see this as a gargantuan job promotion for Brad. He's basically been in every meeting and has been involved in or knows about every discussion that a GM does for the past several years and this move was basically a no-brainer. In addition, Brad's offered his own conclusions, which at times conflicted with DA's. I know there's always going to be a difference between being - in lawyer's parlance - a second or third chair versus the lead litigation, but I think it was Brad who said, while this is a new challenge, he thinks it's an extension of what he has been doing and he's excited but ready to take it on.

Also, in Brad's interview, he states that he's known about this for some time. In fact, he mentioned that as G5 ended and he knew that his coaching career was ending, he wished he could have talked about it more with other people but he couldn't, for obvious reasons.

Finally, from DA's interview, I think it's clear this was totally his decision. He is still very invested in the Cs - at one point calling them "My Celtics" and mentioning that he's completely invested in the success of the franchise.
Do you by chance have a link to that podcast with Wyc? I looked in Forsberg's archives and couldn't find it.
 

TripleOT

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Brad’s done a masterful job of adding veterans and toughness to his team, while simultaneously clearing the books to potentially sign a third all star to play with the Jays. Kudos to Zarren and the rest of the department too.

The proof will be in the playing, but I’m encouraged. He was not afraid to pull the trigger early on moving Kemba Walker. Steven’s didn’t panic as FAs came off the board, and snagged one of the best value signings of the summer.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Brad’s done a masterful job of adding veterans and toughness to his team, while simultaneously clearing the books to potentially sign a third all star to play with the Jays. Kudos to Zarren and the rest of the department too.

The proof will be in the playing, but I’m encouraged. He was not afraid to pull the trigger early on moving Kemba Walker. Steven’s didn’t panic as FAs came off the board, and snagged one of the best value signings of the summer.
By adding the veterans it also makes doing a pre-deadline trade for Beal much much easier. The obv salary/positional match is Smart but the Wiz would seemingly want draft picks.....since we are limited in that regard we have plenty of young players they may desire (Romeo, Begarin, Nesmith) without affecting our rotation whatsoever in the immediate process. Had Ainge tried to pull off a similar deal last year we’d be plugging in G-League guys to fill out our rotation.
 

Eddie Jurak

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By adding the veterans it also makes doing a pre-deadline trade for Beal much much easier. The obv salary/positional match is Smart but the Wiz would seemingly want draft picks.....since we are limited in that regard we have plenty of young players they may desire (Romeo, Begarin, Nesmith) without affecting our rotation whatsoever in the immediate process. Had Ainge tried to pull off a similar deal last year we’d be plugging in G-League guys to fill out our rotation.
Beal salary: $34.5M

Smart: $14.3M
Richardson: $11.6M'
Schroder: $5.9M
Kanter: $2.7M

Total: $34.5M

Obviously, these 4 would not get it done in a straight up deal even if Beal demanded a trade to the C's. But it does mean that, in addition to young players and picks, the Celtics have the salaries to get a deal done.
 

bigq

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I found this summary of an interview PBS gave today interesting. The article indicates that the roster currently is at 16 and in order to get down to 15 a guard is likely to be cut. I don't know whether that is the author's speculation or related to something specific that PBS said. Carsen is the only one that makes sense to me as Waters is already gone.

I think Jabari Parker is still on the roster and I thought he would be jettisoned but maybe not.

Here is where I think the 16 on the roster today stands:

Jaylen Brown
Kris Dunn
Carsen Edwards
Bruno Fernando
Al Horford
Enes Kanter
Romeo Langford
Aaron Nesmith
Jabari Parker
Payton Pritchard
Josh Richardson
Denis Schroder
Marcus Smart
Jayson Tatum
Grant Williams
Robert Williams

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2021/08/19/brad-stevens-offseason-takeaways/?p1=hp_secondary
 

NomarsFool

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I know it's tough to eat the guaranteed contract, but it's very hard to see how Carsen #1) Has any real role on this team and #2) Has any future potential value (either by growing into a better player or salary ballast)
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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I found this summary of an interview PBS gave today interesting. The article indicates that the roster currently is at 16 and in order to get down to 15 a guard is likely to be cut. I don't know whether that is the author's speculation or related to something specific that PBS said. Carsen is the only one that makes sense to me as Waters is already gone.

I think Jabari Parker is still on the roster and I thought he would be jettisoned but maybe not.

Here is where I think the 16 on the roster today stands:

Jaylen Brown
Kris Dunn
Carsen Edwards
Bruno Fernando
Al Horford
Enes Kanter
Romeo Langford
Aaron Nesmith
Jabari Parker
Payton Pritchard
Josh Richardson
Denis Schroder
Marcus Smart
Jayson Tatum
Grant Williams
Robert Williams

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2021/08/19/brad-stevens-offseason-takeaways/?p1=hp_secondary
That's right. Parker has a partial guarantee for this year. Edwards is guaranteed this year but next year is a team option, and he is the most likely guard cut.
 

Swedgin

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Beal salary: $34.5M

Smart: $14.3M
Richardson: $11.6M'
Schroder: $5.9M
Kanter: $2.7M

Total: $34.5M

Obviously, these 4 would not get it done in a straight up deal even if Beal demanded a trade to the C's. But it does mean that, in addition to young players and picks, the Celtics have the salaries to get a deal done.
Also worth remembering, that while you cannot aggregate a TPE with a player for trade purposes, you can use the TPE to acquire a player who can then be aggregated. If Wyc & Co, are willing to go reallllllly deep into the tax and Washington was more interested in clearing the books then adding Smart, PBS could go out and acquire additional matching salary to acquire Beal and keep Smart around.
 

lexrageorge

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I found this summary of an interview PBS gave today interesting. The article indicates that the roster currently is at 16 and in order to get down to 15 a guard is likely to be cut. I don't know whether that is the author's speculation or related to something specific that PBS said. Carsen is the only one that makes sense to me as Waters is already gone.

I think Jabari Parker is still on the roster and I thought he would be jettisoned but maybe not.

Here is where I think the 16 on the roster today stands:

Jaylen Brown
Kris Dunn
Carsen Edwards
Bruno Fernando
Al Horford
Enes Kanter
Romeo Langford
Aaron Nesmith
Jabari Parker
Payton Pritchard
Josh Richardson
Denis Schroder
Marcus Smart
Jayson Tatum
Grant Williams
Robert Williams

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2021/08/19/brad-stevens-offseason-takeaways/?p1=hp_secondary
I would be surprised if they keep Parker, as I believe cutting him is necessary for them to get below the tax threshold. I would not expect him to be cut until later in their preseason schedule, however (salary doesn't guarantee until 10/17). I believe they still need to make another move to get a player into another team's cap space, which I am expecting them to do.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I found this summary of an interview PBS gave today interesting. The article indicates that the roster currently is at 16 and in order to get down to 15 a guard is likely to be cut. I don't know whether that is the author's speculation or related to something specific that PBS said. Carsen is the only one that makes sense to me as Waters is already gone.

I think Jabari Parker is still on the roster and I thought he would be jettisoned but maybe not.

Here is where I think the 16 on the roster today stands:

Jaylen Brown
Kris Dunn
Carsen Edwards
Bruno Fernando
Al Horford
Enes Kanter
Romeo Langford
Aaron Nesmith
Jabari Parker
Payton Pritchard
Josh Richardson
Denis Schroder
Marcus Smart
Jayson Tatum
Grant Williams
Robert Williams

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2021/08/19/brad-stevens-offseason-takeaways/?p1=hp_secondary
Moving Dunn has to be the #1 option. After that flip a coin between Edwards and Parker imo.
 

PedroKsBambino

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If Dunn shows up in training camp healthy and plays ok he is probably dealable. I realize that may not happen, of course....but might as well wait and see if it does, and then decide among eating Carsen's deal, Dunn's deal, and Parker what to do
 

radsoxfan

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Gotta be Dunn #1. After the DS signing he became even more expendable.

As we have discussed, there is a spot for a PF type on the fringes of the rotation, whether Grant or someone else.

Not much room for another guard that doesn't shoot well.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Gotta be Dunn #1. After the DS signing he became even more expendable.

As we have discussed, there is a spot for a PF type on the fringes of the rotation, whether Grant or someone else.

Not much room for another guard that doesn't shoot well.
Yeah the only way it wouldn’t is if Brad wanted to save his $5m expiring to help do a deal by the deadline.
 

benhogan

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Moving Dunn has to be the #1 option. After that flip a coin between Edwards and Parker imo.
going bad on your boy? I'd like to see them give Dunn a chance, we have plenty of developing youngsters (Romeo, Nesmith, PP, TL, Hauser, another 2-way, Begarin/Madar controlled) on this roster I'm fine with them cutting the Edwards cord. Pritchard is a better version of Carsen anyways. Can't have enough experienced players on the roster, as we learned last season.

If they do eat Dunn's contract I'll be pretty ticked that they didn't take Delon Wright in the TT deal, in spite of the $9.7MM TPE

Gotta be Dunn #1. After the DS signing he became even more expendable.

As we have discussed, there is a spot for a PF type on the fringes of the rotation, whether Grant or someone else.

Not much room for another guard that doesn't shoot well.
Wishcasting but I'd love for PBS to turn Grant/2nds into Kyle Andersen...not happening

Maybe a Larry Nance deal built around Grant/Edwards/2nds, rumors of them looking to move salary
 

Rustjive

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If they do eat Dunn's contract I'll be pretty ticked that they didn't take Delon Wright in the TT deal, in spite of the $9.7MM TPE
Despite the moves and the roster right now, the Cs are still trying to duck under the tax. Schroder took Dunn's spot, in play time and in salary.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Eating Dunn's contract would be disappointing, but finding a home for him would be OK. It is hard to see how and where he fits in on this team.

Let's assume that all of Tatum's minutes come at the 4 (even though in reality he will likely play some wing) and all of Brown's at wing. That would leave the following payers in the mix for minutes at point and wing:

Brown
Smart
Schroder
Richardson
Pritchard
Nesmith
Langford
Dunn
Edwards

Dunn's surely ahead of Edwards in the mix for playing time, but even in his best case scenario he's still behind Brown, Smart, Schroder, Richardson, and Pritchard. At worst he's also behind Langford, Nesmith, and Tatum actually plays a lot of wing.

That doesn't look great for him.
 

gammoseditor

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I suspect that “If necessary” means “If we can add Beal” and not to pay Dunn $5m to sit next to the usher.
The quote is “deeper into the tax” and we are 6.6 million over right now on spotrac. I guess they could dump guys to get under but I don’t know why that is the assumption.

edit: I won’t fault them for dumping Dunn and Parker to get under but if that were the plan and there was a taker it would be done by now.
 

lexrageorge

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The quote is “deeper into the tax” and we are 6.6 million over right now on spotrac. I guess they could dump guys to get under but I don’t know why that is the assumption.

edit: I won’t fault them for dumping Dunn and Parker to get under but if that were the plan and there was a taker it would be done by now.
The tax is calculated at the end of the season. If there is no Beal coming here at the deadline, it should not be too difficult to trade Dunn or one of the other contracts at the bottom of the roster to a team looking to add some bench depth. In the unlikely event a Beal arrives at the deadline, then they're in the tax anyway.
 

gammoseditor

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The tax is calculated at the end of the season. If there is no Beal coming here at the deadline, it should not be too difficult to trade Dunn or one of the other contracts at the bottom of the roster to a team looking to add some bench depth. In the unlikely event a Beal arrives at the deadline, then they're in the tax anyway.
If they are 6.6 over they need to dump Dunn now though. Unless they dump useful pieces in season.
 

128

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Good for the C's, great for TL and his agent. The Celtics must have a HEALTH PLAN with his medical history. Makes me even more optimistic with regards to how they will use him
Gotta believe--or at least hope--that the medical staff was consulted heavily on this deal.
 

HomeRunBaker

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If they are 6.6 over they need to dump Dunn now though. Unless they dump useful pieces in season.
I expect that they will simply bc he has no role here but no it isn’t necessary that he already be moved by now to get us under the tax in April. We are in August and can simply move Parker and/or Edwards first.
 

gammoseditor

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I expect that they will simply bc he has no role here but no it isn’t necessary that he already be moved by now to get us under the tax in April. We are in August and can simply move Parker and/or Edwards first.
If he’s moved during the season does a pro rated portion of his salary count toward the tax? I assumed it did but maybe I’m wrong.

I agree on Edwards and Parker, but they don’t get us there. I’m just wondering if the fact that Dunn is still around is an indication no one wants him and we are stuck over the tax.
 

DGreenwood

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If they are 6.6 over they need to dump Dunn now though. Unless they dump useful pieces in season.
It's worth reiterating, because it's counterintuitive, but there is no proration of salaries for players that are on the team for part of the year. The only thing that matters for tax purposes is the total annual salaries for the players on the roster at the end of the year.
 

DGreenwood

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If he’s moved during the season does a pro rated portion of his salary count toward the tax? I assumed it did but maybe I’m wrong.

I agree on Edwards and Parker, but they don’t get us there. I’m just wondering if the fact that Dunn is still around is an indication no one wants him and we are stuck over the tax.
Sorry, I made the post above before reading this. No, there is no proration.
 

Jungleland

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As an admitted casual who loves Rob and Marcus, recognized something had to give with BS as coach, and wanted the team to make it to the season with the opportunity to add a third star open at least in theory, this has been a pretty dream offseason. If things go better than expected, the core is locked up. If Beal becomes available they’re well in play. Things need to go way south for any of these moves to be a disaster, or at least that’s how it seems.
 

Euclis20

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This deal seems like the perfect example of a win-win for both sides. Worst case for Rob, it's life-changing money and he goes on the market again at 28 with the ability to sign another big deal. Worst case for Boston, it's a moveable deal that doesn't kill their cap. After seeing a lot of talent walk away the last few years with nothing other than trade exceptions to show for it, it's nice to see the young core locked up for the foreseeable future on contracts that can very easily be used to grab an all-star, should the right opportunity present itself.

I see the risk on this deal, but man can TL be something special. His combination of athleticism, length, finishing ability and passing doesn't have a comp in today's NBA.
 

bankshot1

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The TL extension along with Smart's got me to pondering (always dangerous) and by my count brings to 8 the homegrown 1st round draft picks on this team. This is almost study worthy, but given FA, the salary cap, and player movement, there can't be too many contender quality NBA teams over the past 40 years (Red's 60s and 70s championships teams were almost all homegrown, with some notable exceptions: Nelson, Howell, Embry Silas) built almost entirely with 1st round picks.

Whether PBS and Coach U find that success remains to be seen, but PBS was CBS and should have a decent handle on chemistry, and which non-draft Celts (Al and Enes) are good fits. But as a long time C's fan, I kind of like it.
 

bakahump

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IF TL can stay healthy I can Picture Danny on his couch at the end of the season going "Ohhh WTF man."
 

TripleOT

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Move Kemba
Lock up Smart and TL
Bring in vets on affordable, short term contracts
Move Thompson
Use the rest of the Hayward TPE
Sign Fournier, or get a big TPE for him
Find a young coach with a solid background, who played in the league

Brad has had a great first off season
 

HomeRunBaker

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Move Kemba
Lock up Smart and TL
Bring in vets on affordable, short term contracts
Move Thompson
Use the rest of the Hayward TPE
Sign Fournier, or get a big TPE for him
Find a young coach with a solid background, who played in the league

Brad has had a great first off season
Draft an undervalued high upside guy in R2 to stash
 

Jimbodandy

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around the way
Move Kemba
Lock up Smart and TL
Bring in vets on affordable, short term contracts
Move Thompson
Use the rest of the Hayward TPE
Sign Fournier, or get a big TPE for him
Find a young coach with a solid background, who played in the league

Brad has had a great first off season
Yep. Hope that there's a big shoe to drop within the next year, but all of this stuff is awesome so far.
 

benhogan

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Move Kemba
Lock up Smart and TL
Bring in vets on affordable, short term contracts
Move Thompson
Use the rest of the Hayward TPE
Sign Fournier, or get a big TPE for him
Find a young coach with a solid background, who played in the league

Brad has had a great first off season
Agreed. also like how they didn't start the clock on either Madar/Begarin while they ripen.

Hauser looks like a nice gamble on a 2-way in Maine/G-League + keeping the option open to adding another 2-way if a guy gets cut

signing JRich + Fournier TPE just extends the Hayward TPE to when they want to be a tax-paying team.

The addition of Kanter makes Jabari my next cut. Can you imagine those two on the court together:eek:

Brad/Zarren get a solid A for their first off-season
 

joe dokes

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The TL extension along with Smart's got me to pondering (always dangerous) and by my count brings to 8 the homegrown 1st round draft picks on this team. This is almost study worthy, but given FA, the salary cap, and player movement, there can't be too many contender quality NBA teams over the past 40 years (Red's 60s and 70s championships teams were almost all homegrown, with some notable exceptions: Nelson, Howell, Embry Silas) built almost entirely with 1st round picks.
I haven't totally thought this through, but does the fact that there's only 2 rounds now make this type of thing more likely these days? Or is it a rare occurrence made likely by the vast number of 1st rounders Ainge accumulated by offloading Pierce, Garnett, etc.?
 

bankshot1

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I haven't totally thought this through, but does the fact that there's only 2 rounds now make this type of thing more likely these days? Or is it a rare occurrence made likely by the vast number of 1st rounders Ainge accumulated by offloading Pierce, Garnett, etc.?
I think the Nets trade and the 1 picks the Cs received made it more possible, (and those picks: the Js are the core of the team) but just spitballin', I'm thinking the salary cap probably works against resigning all the 1s to contract extensions and you have to let some of those guys become multi-millionaires somewhere else. Having 8 under contract (and now for several years) seems to be a real outlier.
 
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